Canine Caretakers
by Pathomorph
Summary: Paul never wanted to be a part of the leech-lover hunting party. He certainly didn't want to be the one to find her. But now that he has, and with no clothes handy, Paul finds himself stuck with her until Sam comes. Pack/Bella


_Canine Caretakers. _

_Paul never wanted to be a part of the leech-lover hunting party. He certainly didn't want to be the one to find her. But now that he has, and with no clothes handy, Paul finds himself stuck with her until Sam comes. Pack/Bella_

**Disclaimer**_: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters therein. It is the sole property of Stephenie Meyer's which I am not, nor do I make profit in writing this fanfiction._

**AN/**_ This is rated M for a reason. I want to warn you all in advance. Swearing, substance abuse, future smut, dark themes, this has it all. It is also unbeta'd and probably woefully littered with errors, for which I apologize in advance. Also for those of you waiting on an update for _**Quicksilver**_, fear not, I am currently working on that. I just needed to get this out there because it was bugging the shit out of me.__ Anyway, yeah, enjoy. ~ Croi_

**Introduction.**

"_Oh, you can hear me cry  
See my dreams all die  
From where you're standing  
On your own.  
It's so quiet here  
And I feel so cold  
This house no longer  
Feels like home.  
Oh, when you told me you'd leave  
I felt like I couldn't breath  
My aching body fell to the floor__."_ – So cold.

_I still don't know why **I** have to fucking help find the leech-lover. _Paul snarled through the shared mental link at Sam, conjuring up images of what, and_ who_, he had been doing at the exact moment his alpha had demanded his services. Jared let out an appreciative hoot as he too was flooded with snippets of cocoa-brown skin flushed and slick with sweat, large bouncing breasts, long strong legs and high, loud cries of pleasure.

_Well if you could keep it in your pants for more than five minutes it would not be a problem, now would it._ Sam sighed back irritably, ears flat to his risen hackles, snout to the ground as he padded through the forest, hunting for even a hint of the lost Swan girl. On the other side of the reservation, Jared was in a similar position, snuffling noisily at the ground as he happily trotted around fallen trees and over rotting logs.

_You're just pissy because your imprint hates your guts, Sam._ Paul snarked back, paws patting at leaves and nose butting into crevices whenever he picked up a foreign smell.

_Watch it, Lahote. My imprint is **none** of your concern, talk about it again and I'll gag order you to withhold sex for the next ten years._ Sam growled back, hackles rising further at the mention of his imprint. Paul knew it was a low blow. A wolf's imprint was a very sore subject to pick at. He wisely did _not_ try mentioning it again. He knew Sam seriously would alpha order him into abstinence as punishment. Jared chortled through the link, earned a warning rumble from Sam and a nasty mental jab from Paul.

Paul was about a hundred meters from the treaty line when he picked up a fresh trail. It was sickly sweet with an unpleasant bleach and old blood undertone to it. Disgusted, the wolf rear back.

_Fucking, __**shit!**__ That is foul._ He spat, muzzle creasing up as he snuffed and sneezed, trying to rid himself of the lingering aroma. Through the pack connection, he _felt_ rather then saw Sam jerk his head up. Jared doing the same not seconds later.

_Vampire?_ The two asked in perfect unison. Reluctant to get another whiff of that stink, Paul merely grunted in agreement.

_It's not Cullen though._ He added after a moment, begrudgingly agreeing to following it on Sam's demand. The track the vampire left was erratic and hard to follow however Paul managed to keep at it until another; stronger and more alarming odor hit him. Rust, salt and…_flowers_?

Please, just kill me. The soft, barely there whimper had Paul howling through the link. Sam and Jared seemed to flounder for a bit, startled by the confusing images and noises being projected by Paul as the silver wolf tore through the vegetation. A few meters in front of him was a scene so disturbing the wolf almost faltered a step.

_Paul, what is it? What's happening_—Sam cut off horrified, just as Paul broke the last of the distant, letting out a roar as he lunged. Red wild hair. Skin, sickly sparkling and white. Fingers dripping with blood as they carved cleanly through the soft skin of a small, pale belly belonging to Bella fucking Swan. _Naturally._

_Leech! _Paul growled, catching a hold of the fleeing bitch's pants. He snagged her just enough to hold her still while he raked massive claws down her back. She let out an unearthly screech, ripping free and taking off into the trees. Paul, about to take off after her, rumbled when Sam's voice cut through the connection.

_No, Paul! Stay with Bella. We'll get the leech._

_It'll get away! _Paul struggled against the alpha order, pawing the ground with the desperate urge to take off after the red-head.

_And Bella might bleed out! Have you even bothered to check her injuries? _Sam snapped back just as angrily.

_Does it look like I fucking care about the leech-lover?_ Paul quipped crossly. Sam snarled at him through the link, authority and dominance rolling off him in heated waves. Instinctually, Paul dropped submissively, eyes shining rebelliously though. Black lips peels back over saliva covered canines, Sam didn't need to tower over his pack to intimidate them. He didn't even have to be anywhere near them.

Sam truly was a protector of the people. Paul, if he was honest, was more into the killing vampires. When it came to humans that were dumb enough to get involved with leech's, such as the idiot laying in a lump of limbs a few meters away, he honestly couldn't bring himself to care about them. However, when he felt no wavering in his alpha's order, Paul let out an angry howl and begrudgingly turned to the sprawled mass of appendages behind him.

The leech-lover whimpered softly as Paul approached, her body shivering and shaking with strain as she tried to sit up. Even though he couldn't see her face, he knew she saw him as he slowly approached. With his belly to the ground, ears flat to his head, Paul inched closer worried she would start to scream or freak out. Surprisingly she did neither. With a pained hiss, she managed to pull herself semi-upright. The movement caused the multitude of gashes over the expanse of her exposed stomach to weep dark red lines that pooled around her knees on the ground. Nauseated by the smell and sight, Paul nudged a wet nose into her collar and pressed the girl flat. Stupid idiot was going to make herself bleed out if she kept moving. Not that he cared! But Sam would surely kick his ass if he let the bint injure herself further.

"Hey there, boy." Her voice was weak and wobbly. Probably from the bloodless. Paul was actually shocked she hadn't started freaking out. It wasn't every day that you had a huge wolf loom over you ominously. She didn't seem overly bothered by the potential threat he could pose. If anything she seemed … calm? _What a weirdo._

"Have you come to finish me off?" she whispered, dark tousled curls covering her face and gently swaying with every word. Paul didn't have to see her face to know it was scrunched up in pain, but otherwise serene. Paul huffed in response to her stupid question, both affronted and annoyed. The force of his chuff ruffled Bella's sweat mattered hair.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." She let out a weak laugh, which morphed into a wet gurgle as blood foamed from her lips. Shit. _Shit!_ At the rate she was bleeding she wouldn't make it.

_Sam!_ for the first time in a long time, Paul had absolutely no idea what to do. Because he had been stark naked when he was called on by Sam, Paul hadn't thought to grab a pair of pants before bolting out the door and phasing once safely behind the cover of the tree line.

_You were right. The leech got away._ Sam huffed through the link, shame lacing his words as his massive furred body slumped. Not in the mood to hear his alpha complain, Paul spoke over Sam before he could say anything else.

_The leech-lover is dying, Sam._

_What? Why haven't you taken her back to Charlie yet?_ Sam panicked; rounding in his position and taking off through the trees towards where Paul loomed over Bella. Jared was a few paces behind.

_No clothes!_ Paul snapped back defensively. Through the link, Sam sent a wave of irritation and frustration but Paul shrugged it off. His next livid retort died on his lips as a tiny, cold hand reached up and curled in the soft downy under fur at his chest. The silver wolf almost recoiled from the light touch, but stopped himself short.

_Keep her alive till I get there, Paul. That's an order._ Sam was angry. Paul didn't care. He was horrified Jacob's love interest, the leech-lover, had her damned hands on him. What right did she have?

_It's touching me!_ He wailed, snarling low in his chest when Jared laughed so hard he tripped over his own paws. Sam merely rolled his eyes at Paul through their mental link.

_She is cold, scared and probably knows she is dying, Paul. Indulge her!_

Paul baulked at the command, snout wrinkling in aversion at the very thought. Who was Sam to tell him to let the leech-lover put her hands all over him? He didn't see any of the others wolves flouncing around for her touch. Besides, she had fucking cold hands! Neither the less, Paul gave a disgruntled and defeated grunt before flopping down next to Bella. For a second he worried it was too late, that she was already dead when she didn't react to his movement, however after a moment, she sighed softly. Paul let out a noise of protest when she curled against him in the encirclement of his huge furred body, effectively rubbing her blood along his side.

_Wait a second._ Sam voice cut the silence suddenly, sounding suspicious and irritable. Paul got a bad feeling.

_Paul, tell me you licked her wounds._ his alpha suddenly demanded, outraged and annoyed at his pack mate's idiocy. Paul gagged through the link. The thought had him unconsciously shuffling away from the slip of a girl, curled up between his paws.

_No fucking way, Sam. Not even if you gag ordered me. I ain't putting my tongue __**anywhere**__ near her so you can just fucking cram it!_

_Paul, do it now or so fucking help me—_

"He's gone you know. He just… left. And I…I tried to follow him. I just wanted to see his face one last time. He's gone. I couldn't see him. But I saw her. She was going to kill me. He … would he have cared? Did he know… she was…" Bella's soft mumbles dissolved into small, soft sobs against Paul's fur, effectively silencing all three of the wolves in shock. Guilt hit Paul like a punch to the gut, but not enough to make him want to lick the leech-lover. He'd rather lick Jared's hairy, sweaty, nasty-ass ball sack.

_You fucking wish, Lahote. You and your tongue aren't coming anywhere near me, or my balls. God knows what strain of rabies you probably carry. _Jared snickered through the link, clearly amused at the position his pack brother was in. Had he not been fighting the sudden overwhelming _need_ to lick the crying cretin pressed against him, Paul might have responded nastily. Instead he focused his mind power on keeping his jaw firmly shut. Even though the command wasn't necessarily completed, Paul felt the compulsion to obey his alpha, tongue betraying him and lolling out from between teeth that struggled to remain clenched. _Nooo!_ This was not fucking happening! Paul howled and fought and struggled against the order tooth and nail, body twitching and writhing while his head carefully lowered.

Her skin tasted of leech and blood, but underneath the sickly sweet and copper tang, was a clean, pure taste that reminded Paul of strawberries and cream. Her skin was also soft and pliant under the abrasive bristles on his tongue.

_Ew, eew, fuck you, Sam. Fuck you, and your pack and your face and just... __**fuck you! **_he raged to his alpha, in complete contradiction to the ever so calm laps he was dealing to the torn up flesh under his mouth. It took some work to clean away the caked on grime and blood so he could inspect the damage. It took even longer to adequately bathe her wounds enough of his saliva to stop the deep gashes from bleeding. By the time he was done Bella had been lulled to sleep by the tender, consistently soothing lick. That or she had passed out from blood loss. The latter being the more probable. Sam came tripping through a large clump of pushes, buttoning up his cut-offs not seconds later.

_About fucking time._ Paul groused to himself, tongue working diligently over the shredded belly presented by Bella's now half sprawled position on the forest floor, head cradled on Paul's flank. Sam flinched at the damage he could see littering Bella's small body. Crouching, he placed two fingers to the girls pulse, sighing in relief when it beat, weak and erratic, but there.

"I'll meet you back at the reservation, good work, Paul." Sam nodded to the silver wolf draped around Bella's body like a protective cocoon of warmth and fur. As soon as Bella was lifted away and into Sam's arms, Paul was on his feet, phasing regardless of his lack of clothing. Now that Bella was unconscious, it was safe. Besides, it wasn't like _he_ would be taking her back to the search party.

"If you'll fucking excuse me then, _Alpha_," Paul spat out the name. "I need to go get every shot known to man and then gargle some bleach." Before taking off into the trees in a blur of russet skin. Jared let out a leer, that didn't fit his lupine features at all, as Paul streaked past.

Rolling his eyes at his idiotic pack brothers, Sam loped off through the brush and towards Charlie Swan's house. Bella stirred a few times in his arms, whimpering and keening, mumbling and murmuring, her tiny fist curling against the bare flesh of his chest. Shuffling her in his arms so that she was pressed more firmly to his body, Sam stepped out of the pine forest and headed for the throng of cars and people outside then 'Swan' residence. Bella was light and limp in his arms. Too small for a girl her age. Too fragile to be running with something as dangerous as vampires. Was the girl so mentally deficient she thought the only love she could get was from an animated corpse?

His attention was drawn away from the petite being cradled in his arms by the call of Jacob Black.

"Charlie!"

All heads snapped to where Sam marched over to them. Some of them judged his shirtless-ness and the blood covering Bella. Others eyed him with respect and relief.

"She needs immediate medical attention." Sam croaked once he found his voice, nervous under the pressure of holding an obviously wounded girl and the questioning looks he was receiving from every angle. Chief Swan jogged towards them, three uniform clad figures in step with him.

"Hand her to us, son." One of the three commanded brusquely, whipping out a medical kit from seemingly nowhere. Knowing a dismissal when he saw one, Sam handed over Bella and stepped back. He watched with worried eyes as the medics fluttered over Bella, peeling back her lid and skimming her for wounds. They tutted and clucked over the gashes on Bella's stomach.

"Dear lord, what on earth happened to her?" One of them rounded on Sam accusingly. The wolf in his bristled, the man flinched, unconsciously summoning images of Emily to mind.

"I… she …I found her barely alive being tossed around by a bear. I managed to scare it off but the damage was already done." He lied swiftly, chocking on the words. Charlie's large, warm hand clapping him on the shoulder caused him to jump, wondering when the man had approached.

"Thank you, Sam. I don't… I can't even imagine what might have happened if you hadn't found her." The chief said with unshed tears in his eyes. Sam watched Charlie walk away, shoulders tense and he was herded into the back of the ambulance. Bella was strapped down to a gurney and lifted up into the back alongside her father. The jostling must have roused her because not a moment later Sam heard her speaking.

"Dad?"

"I'm right here, Bells." Charlie responded gruffly, a certain crack to his voice that signaled impending tears.

"Where…where did my wolf friend go?" she mumbled softly, earning a gasp from some of the people and sudden stiffness from Sam. She remembered Paul. Sam listened with baited breath as she continued.

"He was… so big. Like a bear… only not a bear. He saved me dad. He…" her voice started to wobble.

"He left. He's_ gone_. They all left." Sam relaxed. It was cruel of him to be comforted by the girl's heart wrenching cries; however he had his people and pack to worry about as well. No one would be able to take her seriously. Not when she was so mixed up. Confused and lost between two memories. Harry tossed Sam a shared look. Seconds later Bella's sobs subsided into erratic breathing and her heart beat sluggishly. She had lapsed into unconsciousness once more.

"Let's get her to the E.R." someone said, and then just like that, Sam was once again watching the back of an ambulance drive off with someone he'd hurt. He had not been fast enough, strong enough…man enough to help Bella, just as he had not been_ human_ enough to let Emily go.

His imprints words rang though his head. The memory cruel and unwanted, tinted red with his imprints blood and blurred with his own tears.

Emily, lying on the floor, face shredded, and the left side of her body paralyzed with nerve damage. Her blood warm and wet on his paws. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He just… just needed for her to see what he was. That he trusted her enough, _loved_ her enough to be honest about it.

_'I will _never_ love you, Sam. Never!'_

The wolf in Sam whined, curling up in a metaphorical ball of misery at the memory. Turning on his heel, Sam took off back towards the trees. He'd barely gotten out of eyeshot when his wolf burst from him with a somber bay. To his surprised, a streak of silver slithered out from behind a clump of undergrowth. Paul?

_Thought you had run back to your whore, Lahote._ Sam spoke unthinkingly before regretting the words. Hurt and anger flashed through the bond only to be quickly stifled.

_Eat shit and die, Sam. You don't know anything about me. _Yet despite the harsh words, Paul flanked back and around Sam, coming up at his alpha's side, brushing against the larger wolf. Sam let out a miserable whimper, butting his head against Paul's lightly. Comfort exchanged between pack brothers wasn't uncommon. As pack animals, they were actually very touchy/feely. However, because it might come off a bit strange for a group of guys to always be touching while in human form, they had to limit their contact unless out of sight on the reservation or in wolf form. In a small town like Forks, homophobia ran almost as rampant as the rumor mill. The last thing Sam needed was for his pack brothers to be shunned more so than they already were. Those who knew what they were understood, but there were more people who didn't know then those who did. More people feared them, shunned them, then the small amount that accepted and admired them.

_Let's get the fuck out of here before we start growing lady parts and brushing each other's fur_. Paul nudged Sam's shoulder with his muzzle, urging his alpha forwards. Scoffing, Sam followed lead, trotting at first before picking up his pace with Paul at his side. A few meters ahead Jared caught up with them, meeting both his brothers with a butt to the head and playful nip.

_Dude, you stink_. Jared announced blandly to Paul, catching a whiff of the others fur. Paul immediately bristled.

_Pft, I'm surprised you can smell anything other than your own shit, your head is so far up your ass._ The silver wolf sniffed back huffily. Paul was normally greatly proud of his fur. Jared knew this. Sam knew this. Paul was a vain creature. So a pick at his fur was like a kick to the dick. _Greatly_ unappreciated.

_Ladies! Put a sock in it. I just want to get home, have a shower and go to bed._ Sam sighed wearily, though he two was hiding a grin. Paul, ever the horndog, let out a lewd noise.

_That isn't what I'll be doing when I get home._ And then did his best to give a wolf version of a sexy hip thrust while still phased. The other two wolves snorted back laughter. There jovial banter was cut short but a sudden howl and a wave of pure panic and confusion washing through the mental link.

_Holy fucking shit, I have paws, and fur and whoa, fucking shit. How the hell am I meant to get a girlfriend looking like a bad case of wookie!_

Someone had just phased. _Shit._

**End Chapter**

_Don't forget to review if you liked it to let me know if you want more. Can't start a second chapter if no one likes the first. Also, I would just like to apologized for any inconsistencies you find in the writing style. _


End file.
